Tom Pearce reflects on his goal and the Iron's win

Leeds loanee and defender Tom Pearce got off the mark for the Iron with his first goal for the club in the 4-1 victory over Southend on Tuesday night.

The 20-year-old was delighted to be on the scoresheet, but was even more impressed with the team performance shown to earn all three points at Glanford Park.

Pearce netted the equaliser for the Iron in the 23rd minute when his spectacular cross from the left evaded everybody and flew into the back of the net.

Previously, Simon Cox had put Southend 1-0 ahead after just three minutes, but the Iron showed fantastic grit and determination to level the scoreline going into half-time.

Then, as the teams emerged for the second half, the Iron came out of the blocks quickly, heaping the pressure on the Shrimpers, and were rewarded when Tony McMahon turned in a Clayton Lewis corner to put them 2-1 up.

Shortly after, George Thomas was on scoresheet when Lee Novak cushioned a header nicely into his path, allowing him to slot the ball home.

A couple of minutes later, James Perch rounded off the scoring as he powerfully nodded past Bishop in the Southend goal.

Speaking to iFollow Iron after the game, Pearce firstly reflected back on his goal and said: “I’m always happy to help the team and if I can contribute goals then that’s a bonus as well.

“I saw the goalkeeper off his line, so I just hit it, and luckily, it’s gone into the back of the net.”

Not only did the defender score his first goal for the club, but his overall display out on the pitch received plaudits and appreciation from the fans.

Assessing his own performance, he added: “I thought I did well in my overall game and I’m definitely pleased with it.”

Pearce was also very upbeat about the performance of his teammates and praised their character to come back and win 4-1, after going 1-0 down early on.

He states the result is also very important for momentum and confidence going into the Portsmouth clash on Saturday.

“Every time we play well as a team and put in a good performance, it always helps with confidence, especially if you can get the win as well, so hopefully we can go to Portsmouth and get another three points.”

He continued: “Obviously, we had a disappointing result at the weekend, so it was down to us to put things right during the week and that’s what we did in the 4-1 victory.”

Before the start of play on Tuesday, Southend began the night 14th in the league table, with the Iron a couple of places behind in 18th.

However, the result turned the positionings on their head, with the Iron rising to 15th, and the Shrimpers dropping down to 18th.

Pearce stated how important it was to get a victory against a team who were sat in close proximity in the table.

He said: “It was a vital three points, any win is massive, but it’s especially important against the teams who are around us in the table because we want to be beating them.

“I hope now we go push on and put together another good run.”

He also stressed how vital is was to return to winning ways in front of the home fans at Glanford Park, especially after the 1-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The defender added: “The fans want to see three points every week, so if we can give them that, then it’s all good.”

Pearce also previewed the upcoming fixture with high-flying Portsmouth this weekend and said: “I expect them to be a hard-working team who play good football, so it will be a tough test for us, but I hope we can still get the victory.”

He continued by saying: “I’m looking forward to it. We just need to be confident and play our own game, then we can see what happens.”

See post-match interviews from Stuart McCall and Tony McMahon, as well as the full video with Tom Pearce on iFollow Iron. Click here to subscribe.